 | We are getting close to normal operations as the President's message is starting to turn into a newsletter. We will start publishing quarterly newsletters shortly. The GHF outlook is getting better every week. Personally, I am chomping at the bit to move on from our Triage phase to a GHF Modernization planning phase. I'm practicing patience. Fundraising We have had successful donation challenges from Opportunity Unlocked and Online G3 this last week. We also have four members of the President's Club at the Silver Donor level. We still need more money. A great way to give is to take classes from GHF Online. Many families are taking classes this term with GHF Online through our partner at GCP who is honoring past enrollments in GHF wherever possible. Furthermore, GHF is using new registration profits to help reimburse parents for previously cancelled classes. What's inside? ▪ We now have a full schedule of really good GHF Online courses. Lindsey Nelson, Acting Program Director of GHF Online, will be sharing the exciting news. {Yes, that is the same Lindsey Nelson, Board Treasurer.}
▪ Celi Trépanier has written a blog article for us: GHF--Gifted Homeschoolers Forum: This is Who We Are.
▪ We welcome Diana Zaheer as our newest Premium Plus Member.
| ▪ | We now have a full schedule of really good GHF Online courses. Lindsey Nelson, Acting Program Director of GHF Online, will be sharing the exciting news. {Yes, that is the same Lindsey Nelson, Board Treasurer.} | | ▪ | Celi Trépanier has written a blog article for us: GHF--Gifted Homeschoolers Forum: This is Who We Are. | | ▪ | We welcome Diana Zaheer as our newest Premium Plus Member. | We are getting there. Thank you for everything. We are a wonderful community making great strides. Warmest regards,
Barry
Barry B. Gelston, M.Ed.
Board President
Interim Executive Director | Message from Lindsey Nelson Acting Program Director of GHF Online It’s time to SPRING into GHF Online classes Hello Everyone! I’m delighted to be back in your inbox today as the Acting Program Director of GHF Online. Through your generosity, we raised $10,500 of the $15,000 we need to pay our instructors who taught Fall classes. I’m reaching out to instructors and coordinating payments as you’re reading this. We are on a solid footing for servicing our debts and resuming standard operations. GHF Online classes are a huge part of standard operations, and we cannot wait to start a full cohort of Spring classes. Our teaching team has some new faces joining a strong veteran core. We have 18 classes on the schedule to make sure that you, and learners you love, can find an awesome learning experience where gifted and twice-exceptional students can find their time. Check out the full line-up now! The Gifted Homeschoolers Forum exists to empower all parents to launch their gifted children through home learning support. That’s why we’re offering classes like “How to Research Like a Professor” and “The Hero’s Journey for Teens: Finding Your Mythic Story.” We want all of our learners to try on big ideas, explore massive questions, and connect with others who share their passions. I mean, where else can learners explore questions like “What is the human connection to geologic events?” (Historical Geology) and “What matters and why?” (Writing to Promote Change). In GHF Online classes, we bring students together from all over the world to think, to explore, to question, and to learn. Our dynamic instructors enable us to offer one-of-a-kind classes tailored to gifted and twice-exceptional learners. In Project Planning, students will discover how to break down their big idea projects into manageable goals. In Puzzlecraft, students can design their own Escape Room or create their own Mystery Hunt. In Sketchbook Adventures, students will journey through their imagination as they discover who they are while practicing key artistic skills. And in Dabrowski’s Theory of Positive Disintegration, students will find space to reflect deeply on what it means to be gifted. At GHF, we know that some students value the circuitous learning journey while others prefer the direct route. Whatever your learner’s style, we hope you will find the “Just Right” class for them. I also want to tell you a little bit about me and why I am so committed to making sure your learners have a great experience this Spring. I grew up as a gifted kid in northeastern Minnesota fascinated by the space program. I often felt like a freak, and I struggled to find “my” people who understood me… especially when I was at home. My middle school years were rough. I had tons of conversations with my parents about what would be best for me educationally. During the summers, I had the opportunity to attend various programs for gifted kids sponsored by colleges and universities. Being in a room with other people like me was a breath of fresh air. As an adult, I’ve come to see that online classes are a great way to reach kids right here right now while connecting them with others like them. Seeing the look on a kid’s face when they finally feel like they have found their fit is priceless. I’m all in on making sure that happens. So, again, I invite you to take the plunge and check out the Spring classes of GHF Online. Sign up for the classes you love and consider inviting some friends to join you. Yours in learning,
Lindsey Nelson
Acting Program Director for GHF Online | This week we have an article from Celi Trépanier, the author of the GHF Press book, Educating Your Gifted Child: How One Public School Teacher Embraced Homeschooling | GHF--Gifted Homeschoolers Forum: This is Who We Are. It’s such an exciting time—your first child is entering preschool. All sorts of thoughts have been swirling in your head for months. There’s happy anticipation with visions of your little one soaking up all the knowledge offered to him, joyously playing with friends, and you waiting in the carpool line to pick up your gleefully exhausted. child. Ahhhh, the perfect vision of your child’s first experience with school, yet one nagging concern has been gnawing at your perfect preschool scenario— Your 4-year old taught himself to read a while back, and he clearly knows and understands his alphabet—identification and sounds, and also recognizes numbers to 100. What will they teach him in preschool that he doesn’t already know? Fast forward a few years and you have already grown a bit frustrated with the seemingly-constant fights to have his teachers offer him new, challenging information, not the everyday repetition of what he knows already. You are not the only one frustrated; your son has become disillusioned with school, he asks to stay home, and his behavior in class has become a bit of an issue. What do you do? Where do you turn? You just can’t turn to your other mom-friends and ask, “Hey, my son already knows everything being taught in second grade, but his teacher doesn’t want to give him more advanced work, and he’s bored. What do I do?” Uh, wait for it. An uneasy pause, maybe a faint eye roll, a blank stare, and then—nada. So, where do you turn for help and support for your precocious child? Who else could possibly understand your dilemma without thinking you are bragging and just wanting more for your already-intellectually endowed child? You feel so alone with this problem which others perceive as a bonus. Gifted Homeschoolers Forum But wait, “I don’t homeschool,” you say. GHF—Gifted Homeschoolers Forum has resources, support and information for all parents, educators and professionals who engage with gifted children. GHF’s website is a treasure trove of information, support, resources and help. There is a closed discussion group on Facebook where you can safely ask others who have been there, done that about your situation. GHF has a public Facebook page with a constant feed of informative articles about gifted children, gifted adults, advocacy, homeschooling, education, twice-exceptional children and adults, and parenting. GHF offers a wealth of engaging and challenging online classes if you do choose to homeschool. GHF Press has published many books focused on the different aspects of giftedness and education. When it comes to answering your questions and providing the resources and support you need, Gifted Homeschoolers Forum has you covered! To answer your question, “What do I do?” turn to Gifted Homeschoolers Forum and find exactly what you need—answers to your questions, a place where you no longer feel alone, the support you need, relationships with other parents who get what you are going through, and best of all, no eye rolls or blanks stares—we promise. Here at GHF, we know you’re not bragging. We’ve all traveled on this often-bumpy journey of raising and educating gifted children, and we are here to help you. How do I know this? I was at that very same point in raising my three gifted sons—the point where I didn’t know where to turn or who to turn to, and I felt as though I must be the only one in the world who is finding it a problem having a child who already knows everything being taught in their class. And Gifted Homeschoolers Forum was there for me with information, support and the help I needed. I found my triple within GHF. Gifted Homeschoolers Forum saved my sanity and improved the emotional outlook for my entire family. And I’ve been a part of the GHF family ever since. I’m Celi Trépanier, the author of the GHF Press book, Educating Your Gifted Child: How One Public School Teacher Embraced Homeschooling and I’m a GHF blogger writing for my popular blog, Crushing Tall Poppies. I also volunteer for GHF, managing our bloggers group and our Gifted Homeschoolers Forum Facebook page, GHF: Gifted Homeschoolers Forum New.0. Go on, check us out. I promise you will find just what you are looking for, just what you need, and likely more perks than your were hoping for! | GHF Press is a special place where our activists become authors and share the wisdom that they have developed. Please enjoy our titles, they are available on Amazon. We are featuring two wonderful members of the GHF community, Kelly Hirt and Paula Prober. Your purchase helps to fund GHF. |  Amazon Link | by Kelly Hirt Even the most experienced teachers often know little about the challenges their gifted and twice-exceptional students face. Misinformation abounds, and well-intentioned in-class solutions can backfire. How can teachers support the educational and social needs of these unique learners, while still addressing the needs of all their other students? Kelly Hirt, a public school teacher with 25 years experience and writer at MyTwiceBakedPotato.com, understands the frustration felt by many teachers and parents. After realizing that her own son was one of these unique learners, Hirt developed strategies that any teacher or parent can readily implement. In her new book, Boost: 12 Effective Ways to Lift Up Our Twice-Exceptional Children, Hirt outlines 12 strategies to design a supportive, safe, and encouraging learning environment for twice-exceptional students. By utilizing Hirt’s strategies, educators will join with parents and students to create an educational experience in which all students can thrive and excel. |  Amazon Link | Paula Prober, MS, MEd Do you long to drive a Ferrari at top speed on the open road, but find yourself always stuck on the freeway during rush hour? Do you wonder how you can feel like “not enough” and “too much” at the same time? Like the rain forest, are you sometimes intense, multilayered, colorful, creative, overwhelming, highly sensitive, complex, and/or idealistic? And, like the rain forest, have you met too many chainsaws? Enter Paula Prober, MS, MEd, who understands the diversity and complexity of minds like yours. In Your Rainforest Mind: A Guide to the Well-Being of Gifted Youths and Adults, Paula explores the challenges faced by gifted adults of all ages. Through case studies and extensive research, Paula will help you tap into your inner creativity, find peace, and discover the limitless potential that comes with your Rainforest Mind. | Institutional members are an important part of our community. GHF has a long history of carefully selecting our partners that can offer positive impacts in your lives. Please support them. | To become an institutional member please email Barry Gelston. | Diana Zaheer Diana Zaheer offers counseling and healing support for children, teens, adults and families -- many of whom are gifted or 2E. She loves to help people discover their own relationship to presence, mindfulness and compassion, using creative tools such as her website’s free and confidential virtual healing rooms. Diana blends deep understanding about giftedness, having raised and homeschooled her own two gifted sons, having lived overseas for 12 years and having trained with healing masters for more than 30 years in the USA, Asia and the Middle East. She often works with clients whose healing journey includes trauma, sensitivity, underachieving, adoption and giftedness. A new member benefit Diana Zaheer is offering one free session for all GHF Members. | The President's Club - Elite GHF Donors For those of you who can give at least $500 we have created a special recognition program where you will be listed on the GHF website as valued members of the President's Club and will also be mentioned here in the newsletter (Of course, your donation can be kept anonymous.)
There are three levels of recognition for donations.
1. President's Club - Platinum Level - $2,500
2. President's Club - Gold Level - $1,500
3. President's Club - Silver Level - $500 We now have 4 Silver Level Donors. Who will be next? Will someone put their name above the others as a Platinum Level or Gold Level Donor? President's Club Donors Silver Level Donor, Rosemary Guillette
Silver Level Donor, Dr. Melanie Hayes, Big Minds Unschool
Silver Level Donor, Heidi Molbak, Seed Starter Educational Consulting
Silver Level Donor, Dan Peters, Summit Center | Our Facebook Discussion Group is growing daily and the GHF peer-to-peer support is in bloom. Please join us. Please like the Facebook page. | Over 19 hours of free expertise from experts working with bright kids with focus, learning, social, emotional, and behavioral challenges. The Bright & Quirky Child Online Summit runs for 7 days, beginning January 28th. Content will be FREE to the public each day for 24 hours. There will be approximately 4-5 talks per day. A membership to the Bright & Quirky IdeaLab is available for purchase for those who would like to watch the series at their own pace, do Q&A with the experts, and get parent support. Amazing lineup of speakers! | | |
